If you haven't given much thought to trying out Open Educational Resources in education or maybe aren't even sure what exactly they are, the time has come to start learning! OERs are freely accessible, openly licensed documents and media that are useful for teaching, learning, and assessing as well as for research purposes—and they're all available to be downloaded. In a world in which educational innovation is constantly developing, we may have found the next thing that teachers, administrators and leaders will be unable to ignore.
OERs and Their Role in the Future of Education
Across the country, a variety of 21st century education initiatives are gaining steam and one of the more popular movements has been the shift to Open Educational Resources (OER). At both local and state levels, school systems are embracing this shift to more viable materials to help build Future Ready classrooms and students. OERs help create a digital learning culture and give kids the chance to use modern tools starting at a young age. Superintendents, teachers and even school librarians recently have begun efforts to ensure that students have access to open materials that support learning in the 21st century.
Open Educational Resources offer districts the opportunity to expand and customize learning for all of the students they serve. Part of their appeal is due to the simple implementation and transition they allow, often without any costs to the schools that will be using them. All open resources are available online to anybody who would like to use them and can be customized to enhance learning in a specific subject, grade level and unit. The Department of Education has also contributed to the launch of OERs in K-12 education by creating and distributing a start-up guide for teachers interested in implementing new learning tools in the classroom.
Open Ed leaders across the country have also started social media campaigns designed to educate school and district leaders on the importance and usefulness of OERs. The ‘Go Open’ hashtag has amassed quite a following on social channels as 21st century educators have embraced the opportunity to broaden digital learning in their classrooms. Since OERs fit well into current curricula and incorporate the ever-important tech aspect into learning, they certainly have the potential to transform education in a big way. Plenty of school districts have tried out and adopted OERs and their implementation has led to actionable initiatives that will continue to benefit students now and in the future.
Leveraging OERs in More Places Than One
Beyond their power in the classroom, Open Educational Resources are also valuable tools to use in afterschool and summer makerspaces. Since the idea behind the Maker Movement to create things with whatever materials you have, OERs can help kids construct or enhance the things they are building. These tools are living, breathing, adaptive and engaging, allowing creative students to expand learning possibilities with hands-on, high quality learning. Since all OERs are openly licensed, educators have access to more technology to help personalize learning for their students.
Any teaching or learning resource that resides in the public domain is considered an Open Educational Resource. Their open nature not only allows teachers access to these materials, but they can also share them, repurpose them and use them to enhance their classes in any way they can think up. Included under the blanket of open materials are lesson plans, games, textbooks, test templates and educational videos that enhance the learning process. Since they can repurpose these resources, teachers have come to realize that the flexibility of OERs is effective in supporting students as they chase their learning goals.
Digital technology, as we know, has helped expand classroom innovation and OERs have been one of the major beneficiaries. They can help students build learning habits that they will carry with them throughout the course of their education and even expose them to new areas of interests. Openness also enables kids to continue learning at home, on their own time and at their own pace—all for free. Teachers can customize classroom content, but students can create learning opportunities of their own, producing self-generated content that supports learning and caters to their personal needs. In a world in which we race to replace outdated textbooks, the answer may well lie in an openly available environment.
OERs Should be on Your Radar
Traditional learning devices have started to give way to technology-based tools as the reliance of pre-packaged materials like textbooks has softened. Like any new trendy thing, teachers may have more questions than answers when they first start researching OERs, but their value is definitely noticeable. To give it a little momentum in classrooms, educators can create a few simple goals—exactly as they would when implementing a new teaching tool, learning system or technology product. We think we’ve said this before, but the key to a painless transition often lies in creating a culture that welcomes change, appreciates innovation and embraces improvement.
Since OERs are backed by the Dept. of Education and available to districts, schools and teachers at no cost, they have become wildly popular in the education community. We touched on the fact that they can be repurposed earlier and this is important for creating customizable content in the classroom. This allows educators to keep much of their pre-established curriculum in tact and only use OERs to enhance their requirements rather than creating a situation in which they feel the need to recreate everything and start over from scratch. In an era in which personalized learning rules the rooms of many of the top teachers, it has the potential to be increased even more when teachers go open.
Helping teachers to understand the reach that OERs can have will also likely go a long way in getting these tools into schools. They offer morr relevant materials for students to use and give teachers the flexibility they desire. Since many schools are already going 1:1, a lot of them already have the resources (laptops) to make OER-based learning possible. Implementing Open Educational Resources in your school is a process that will take time. Of course, there might not be perfect results the first time through, but the beauty of OERs allows for constant revising and reworking to create the tools and the environment most conducive to today’s students. Most importantly, OERs help kids see where they’re likely to be a few years from now—using some of the latest tools to get things done each and every day.
The Future of OERs in K-12
One of the most powerful words associated with the K-12 Open Education Movement is opportunity. While the ideas of OER implementation have been around for some time now, students and teachers have only had access to open materials for about six or seven years. Still in its infancy, the potential of OER use and influence is not fully known, but is expected to be prominent. While we continue to learn about OERs ourselves, momentum is starting to shift in favor of welcoming OERs into the classroom and could possibly become a pragmatic solution to the tech and curricular challenges that schools face today.
It seems fairly clear that the future of instructional materials in K-12 education will become very different from what we have always known. OER adoption can legitimately help schools in many areas, most notably with saving money. The goal is to construct systems that will allow for OER use that is completely sustainable, benefitting schools for more than just a couple of years. Since OER implementation will vary across states, districts, at different types of schools and in different grade levels, each educator tasked with getting it started will presumably have a different level of tech expertise. While we’re not denying the existence of deterrents, it seems that they should only be a small bump in the road and not disrupt the grander plan.
If school districts can overcome the various challenges posed by OER implementation (for students and teachers), they’ll be on a solid foundation while using them during the school year. Setbacks can range from convincing administrators to give OERs a try on up to the question of who owns student-created content and teacher-produced lesson plans. If teachers can capitalize on the momentum currently sweeping the OER scene and take part in collaborative programs that help with understanding and installation, the process should go much more smoothly. Once they’re set up and ready to go in classrooms, teachers will likely need to try some pedagogical shifts in order to find the best ways to teach with their new tools. A fairly sizable consideration, but not an impossible one for our innovative educators, this would provide kids with the best possible environment in which to learn—the ultimate goal in the first place.
Where and How to Begin with OERs
OERs and implementing them in the classroom can have some serious benefits as indicated by the Department of Education. Government support from the Education Department as well as from state leaders have helped students enjoy access to new platforms for discovery, curation and the dynamic exploration of in-depth concepts. The nationwide movement has increased student and teacher empowerment, reduced costs and transformed learning in other innovative ways. It does take a lot of time and expertise, however, to create and develop curricula that incorporate OERs effectively, but, thankfully, there are plenty of resources to assist teachers with the process!
OERs are adaptable and even creatable, making the lives of educators that much easier on a day-to-day basis. For teachers about to begin the journey, making use of the DOE’s ‘Go Open’ initiative is something that will prove invaluable. Just as in any aspect of modern education, teachers should take advantage of the resources that are out there and the DOE is a great resource for learning about your new classroom resources. The Office of EdTech also created a “story engine” to highlight districts around the country who have made use of Open Educational Resources in their classrooms. There are examples of schools that are leading the Go Open movement and can be quite valuable for teachers looking for inspiration or support.
A collaborative approach can also be especially beneficial for school districts. Statewide adoption, for example, is a simplified way to implement OERs into all classrooms at once. It then just comes down to quality—meaning that your resources should not just be digital copies of the same outdated textbooks and other reading materials you are trying to move past. Your resources should be those that you can actually work to develop with the goal of creating relevant, updated tools that the entire district could potentially use. Breaking your resources down into content area and grade level as well as identifying what your needs are will be immensely helpful whether you’re set to start using OERs this September or are thinking about giving it a try in the next couple of years!
For the latest EdTech, STEM, and 21st century education news, follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Like us on Facebook, too, or sign up for our newsletter for our latest product announcements and offerings. If you have an idea for an Eduporium Weekly theme, send us a message on social media or comment below.